Bitlbee

Bitlbee is a "console-based IRC to IM chatting gateway". It allows the user to interact with popular chat networks XMPP/Jabber, Yahoo! Messenger and ICQ, the Twitter microblogging network (plus all other Twitter API compatible services like identi.ca and status.net), and social networking chat networks like Facebook and StudiVZ within their IRC client.

The users' buddies appear as normal IRC users in a channel and conversations use the private message facility of IRC.

Contents

Installation

Configuration

Various settings can be set using the /etc/bitlbee/bitlbee.conf configuration file.

Daemon

It is recommended to run the Bitlbee daemon without root permission. Uncomment the following line so Bitlbee can run as the "bitlbee" user, which was created when the package was installed.

User = bitlbee

For daemon mode uncomment the following lines.

DaemonInterface = 0.0.0.0
DaemonPort = 6667

Ensure that the configuration directory is writeable with the user you configured:

# chown -R bitlbee:bitlbee /var/lib/bitlbee

Then start the bitlbee daemon. You can also enable the bitlbee daemon to start on boot.

Note that just starting the server does not log you into any of your chat accounts.

Basic Usage (Jabber/XMPP)

Once Bitlbee is running connect to localhost using an IRC client. The control channel, &bitlbee, should already show you some basic information (if not, join it now). You can always type help to get help.

While in the control channel, enter

help quickstart

and follow the instructions

Your friend might be requesting authorization to add you back, so just reply according to the control channel prompts.

To initiate a chat, simply open a new IRC private window:

/msg friend hello!

OTR

For OTR support you must have libotr installed. Upon account registration, bitlbee will generate your OTR keys, and it will use them transparently whenever you are negotiating with an OTR-capable contact.

External Services

Telegram

To make Telegram work with bitlbee you need version compiled with libpurple support enabled - bitlbee-libpurpleAUR for example, although there are patched or development versions also available.